Rural Chaplain not seeing relief from drought

A Rural Chaplain from the Salvation Army says he's not seeing much relief from drought, despite recent rain

contributed

A Rural Chaplain for the Salvation Army says he's not seeing much relief for farmers in areas where rain has fallen in recent months.

Major Peter Ridley and his wife Jean have been travelling around the north west of the state for months, listening to farmers and providing assistance where they can.

Major Ridley says many farmers are still waiting for rain, and for most farmers, what has fallen isn't enough to have a lasting impact.

“It's got a little tinge of green right across the landscape, and in some places, it's looking quite beautiful, but there's still not a lot in it for feed,” he said.

“In other places where they haven't had rain, it's the same, perhaps even worse than it was before.”

“We're seeing people having to put their stock down because they're unable to get enough feed.”

Major Ridley says more help needs to be provided to farmers, to access the federal government's drought assistance.

He says says the forms are around 30 pages long, and once submitted, he's heard it can take more than a month for assistance to be approved.

Major Ridley says he encourages all landholders to seek help in filling out the forms accurately and quickly.

“Having to sit down to face a big document like that, can be mind blowing,” he said.

“We keep suggesting to people that they either talk directly to Centrelink, or they talk directly to their rural financial counsellor, who will help them to get all the information together, and get that on paper, so that they can get the help they need as quickly as possible.”